PLATFORM – GetResponse Blog – Online Marketing Tipshttps://blog.getresponse.com Tue, 26 Sep 2017 19:26:33 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.2How to Modify Facebook Open Graph Properties of Your Landing Pageshttps://blog.getresponse.com/facebook-open-graph-properties-landing-pages.html https://blog.getresponse.com/facebook-open-graph-properties-landing-pages.html#respondThu, 27 Jul 2017 20:32:12 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=30313Facebook is one of the biggest source of news on the internet. This makes Facebook even more responsible for what is being shared on the platform. Recently, the social media giant has been working on putting up measures against fake news shared on the site. On 18 July, Facebook removed the ability to edit the […]

]]>Facebook is one of the biggest source of news on the internet. This makes Facebook even more responsible for what is being shared on the platform. Recently, the social media giant has been working on putting up measures against fake news shared on the site.

On 18 July, Facebook removed the ability to edit the text shown in a preview of a link shared onto the platform. This means you can no longer use a customized image, text, or headline when you share a link to your landing page on Facebook.

Here’s what Matthew Robertson from Facebook says in his blog post on Facebook’s developers blog:

“By removing the ability to customize link metadata (i.e. headline, description, image) from all link sharing entry points on Facebook, we are eliminating a channel that has been abused to post false news.”

But Facebook is also working on a solution to support publishers that use this functionality quite often.

“Today we’re also releasing a solution to support publishers who rely on overwriting link preview metadata to customize how their content appears to audiences on Facebook. We’re introducing a tab in Page Publishing Tools for publishers to indicate link ownership and continue editing how their own links appear on Facebook. For more information please visit our Help Center.”

However, this tool will be available only to publishers in the fields of news, sports, and entertainment. Facebook product team justifies this decision by saying that they found out that many of these Page types modify links to their own articles.

How will this affect GetResponse landing pages?

If you have a Facebook page and your business is not operating in the field of media, you won’t have the Link Ownership tab, which could let you edit your links.

In such a case, you need to be sure that the landing page you share on Facebook has all the required Open Graph properties. The Open Graph properties are generated automatically once you fill in the details of your landing page inside the landing page settings.

Here’s how to do it step-by-step:

1. Make sure you fill in the page title and description fields, and upload a Facebook share image.

You can find all of these inside the landing page creator. Simply click on the gear icon. The proper size for a Facebook share image is 1200 x 630.

2. Publish your page and go to your Facebook page to share the URL.

3. Publish your post.

If you would like to make any changes on the image, description or the title, just go back to the settings inside the landing page creator.

If you’d like to learn more about this change, have a look at what Facebook has to say here, here and here.

Also, Facebook created a link debugger that allows you to see a preview of how your links would look like. This may also come handy.

Back to you

Were you modifying your links often before sharing them on Facebook? Do you think this would affect small businesses and the way they reach their audience?

]]>https://blog.getresponse.com/facebook-open-graph-properties-landing-pages.html/feed03 Common Email A/B Testing Pitfalls – and How To Avoid Themhttps://blog.getresponse.com/email-ab-testing-pitfalls-avoid.html https://blog.getresponse.com/email-ab-testing-pitfalls-avoid.html#respondTue, 25 Jul 2017 17:12:40 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=30270When creating content for an email, it’s tempting to guess what your audience will respond to. But that’s not necessarily the best approach – especially if you’re emailing multiple contact lists. Different audiences have different preferences, which can affect your email metrics and conversions. So how can you turn the tide? Try A/B testing (if […]

]]>When creating content for an email, it’s tempting to guess what your audience will respond to. But that’s not necessarily the best approach – especially if you’re emailing multiple contact lists. Different audiences have different preferences, which can affect your email metrics and conversions.

So how can you turn the tide? Try A/B testing (if you haven’t already). It’s one of the easiest and most popular ways to improve your conversion rates. But not all businesses get it right. Some have tried it, only to get inconclusive results – which can be frustrating.

The truth is, small mistakes made during A/B testing can affect your test results. And that hampers your success.

But don’t worry, because I’m going to share some of the most common A/B testing mistakes – and how to avoid them. These tips are designed to help you keep your testing plans on track, so you can achieve more with your email marketing. So, let’s dive in!

Pitfall #1: You stop testing too soon.

This is the statistical equivalent to throwing in the towel. Because stopping an A/B test as soon as you see a good result can make your overall results invalid. And all your hard work goes down the drain!

Many tools encourage this, by letting you stop a test as soon as it hits statistical significance. But if you want to get the best results from your emails, you need to fight the urge to end your tests early. This may seem counterintuitive, but the more often you check the test, the more likely you’ll see incorrect results.

The fix: stick to the set sample size.

Discipline is key to combatting these false positives. Before running an A/B test, set a sample size in stone – and avoid ending your test early (no matter how promising your results look). Not sure how to do that? The default A/B test settings in GetResponse recommend a sample size of 25%.

The same goes for the testing time. Give your contacts enough time to open or click – depending on your variables. I usually run the test for 4 hours and have GetResponse send the winning message for me. This is how I reduce testing bias. Simple!

Pitfall #2: You only focus on conversions

Sometimes when we’re deep in the weeds, we look at the forest and miss the trees. What does that mean for A/B testing? When you only concentrate on conversions, and lose sight of the long-term results. This hyper focus on conversions means you’d be better off choosing your best message based solely on the click rate.

While all email marketers want sky-high CTRs (click-through rates), several split test combinations may give you more meaningful results when you use the open rate as the measure of success.

The fix: Measure what you intend to measure.

If I’m testing different subject lines, then the open rate is the logical variable to track. The subject line that gets the highest email opens is the winner.

Or:

If I’m split testing emails with different content or design, then I’ll track CTRs. The content that gets the most clicks is the winner.

Bonus tip: Set a hypothesis based on your email marketing KPI. That way, you won’t be distracted and will measure what you intend to.

Pitfall #3: You only test incremental changes.

Sure, a newsletter might get a big return after changing something small like a button color. But for most of us, these tiny tweaks won’t produce meaningful results.

With A/B testing, it can be tempting to focus on minuscule improvements. But then you risk missing a bigger opportunity that makes a bigger impact.

The fix: Test radical changes.

A good rule of thumb? Test whole content sections or the email design. If you’re seeing weak CTRs, then it may be a sign you should invest in making radical changes, rather than incremental ones.

It does take more work than simply A/B testing subject lines or send times. Because you may have to completely redesign the email. So I suggest you perform radical tests occasionally – and on big contact sample sizes.

Over to you

Now you know the major pitfalls I spotted when A/B testing our newsletters. But there are many more.

What missteps have you taken in measuring your messages? And how did you avoid them the next time? Share your thoughts below!

]]>https://blog.getresponse.com/email-ab-testing-pitfalls-avoid.html/feed0GetResponse LIVE: 3 Email Marketing Hacks to Grow Your Businesshttps://blog.getresponse.com/getresponse-live-3-email-marketing-hacks-grow-business.html https://blog.getresponse.com/getresponse-live-3-email-marketing-hacks-grow-business.html#respondTue, 18 Jul 2017 16:00:07 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=30205Want to know 3 secrets to grow your business using GetResponse? Then Join us LIVE on Facebook with Owen Video this Friday, July 21 at 11 AM ET! Owen Video is the founder of BizTube Academy, a YouTube Influencer, and a video consultant. Together with GetResponse Experts, he’ll tell you everything you need to know […]

Owen Video is the founder of BizTube Academy, a YouTube Influencer, and a video consultant. Together with GetResponse Experts, he’ll tell you everything you need to know about how to plan, promote, and roll out a professional marketing campaign that generates revenue.

Sounds good? Thought so! Sign up for the Facebook live event and join us on Friday!

]]>https://blog.getresponse.com/getresponse-live-3-email-marketing-hacks-grow-business.html/feed05 Amazing Automation Hackshttps://blog.getresponse.com/5-amazing-automation-hacks.html https://blog.getresponse.com/5-amazing-automation-hacks.html#respondThu, 15 Jun 2017 14:09:11 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29782The other day, I was watching an episode of Sex and the City called “Ghost Town”. Aired in 2001, it was the first time in the series Carrie sends an email. Too afraid to express her feelings to her e-boyfriend Aiden over the phone, she emails him. But because her sender name is really cheesy, […]

]]>The other day, I was watching an episode of Sex and the City called “Ghost Town”. Aired in 2001, it was the first time in the series Carrie sends an email. Too afraid to express her feelings to her e-boyfriend Aiden over the phone, she emails him. But because her sender name is really cheesy, Aiden marks it as junk.

It made me wonder: how can we ensure our emails get read? Today, when we’re competing to be heard, we spend a lot of time and effort trying to match our content with what we think our subscribers want to receive. But we forget about the other pieces of the puzzle. And when we try too hard, our email strategy is bound to fail.

Marketing segmentation-ish: a jigsaw puzzle

Sometimes you may feel like Carrie. No matter what channel you use, the results disappoint. So we have to take a step back and look at the whole puzzle. I’m talking about advanced clustering and segmentation. Automated email flows. Social media integration. Contact management – and other ways to personalize your marketing to each subscriber, at different touch points.

1. Personalize emails with lead scoring

Marketing automation is about segmenting your contacts based on how close they are to buying a product – or upgrading to your premium offering.

So, how do you do it? By using lead scoring to qualify your contacts based on predefined criteria. You can use whatever type of scoring you like. I find the best and easiest way is to use terms like “prospect”, “warm” or “customer”.

The idea is to set up automatic scoring. Of course, sometimes you may need to do this manually (say if a salesperson needs to mark a contact as “paused” to ensure they don’t receive emails.) But automation can help you be far more effective and efficient with your email marketing.

Now you know what lead scoring is, the next step is to map these scores with specific actions on your website, app, or in your marketing campaign. This mapping can help you prepare your lead scoring model.

This should be based on individual contact and company demographics (like their gender, age, social networks and interests) and behavior (such as whether they registered, visited a pricing page, completed an order, or upgraded to a larger package).

2. Nurture with drip campaigns

Many people use drip campaigns based on a time series – often to onboard new users. Others use it to send an email course.

But you can also use drip campaigns to better engage your contacts. To do this, you’ll need to add some behavioral, demographic, and lead scoring triggers. In this way, you don’t just send the same email to every prospect, say two days after they get the first email of the series or join your list. Instead, you send a message based on each contact’s behavior – like visiting a web page, completing a subscription form, or abandoning their order.

3. Use plain-text emails

We all love beautifully designed, templated emails. But simple, plain-text emails get better click-through rates (CTR). Why? Because they seem more personal. I did this recently, and my CTR spiked by 15%.

The best part is, your email will look like plain text. But it’s actually fully HTML-enabled content. Why not try it?

4. Harness the power of custom fields

Your database is a goldmine! So go beyond geo-location, and use custom fields to build customer profiles as they move through your funnel. Or go all the way – assigning tags, so your subscribers travel through your lists. You can also add or remove tags to adjust the frequency of messages in your drip campaigns.

5. Use progressive profiling

Once you have contact data, you don’t need to ask them for the same information again. If you do present them with another form or popup, ask for different data.

You can use marketing automation to identify the user and ask for new information. Let’s say you already have a contact’s email address. Next, you can present them with a form that asks for their name and phone number. This is what we call progressive profiling.

In a perfect world…

In the early days of email, Carrie tripped up by hiding behind an odd sender name. So her message was never heard. Today, there are many more pieces of the puzzle to think about. But if you embrace marketing automation to segment your database, you can be confident that your message makes an impact.

The software does all the hard work for you. So you can just focus on creating more effective marketing campaigns, armed with insights into your customers’ behavior and actions.

Your turn!

Have you used marketing automation to engage your audience? Or is your strategy more like Carrie’s? Let us know in the comments below!

]]>https://blog.getresponse.com/5-amazing-automation-hacks.html/feed0Use Thank You Pages to Drive Continuous Engagementhttps://blog.getresponse.com/use-thank-you-pages.html https://blog.getresponse.com/use-thank-you-pages.html#respondMon, 22 May 2017 18:32:58 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29524You are a store owner, a really good one – one that knows exactly how to run a business, satisfy customers and make them happy enough to guarantee their return. In one instance, one of your repeat customer Paul approaches to you to check out. You get the payment and hand out the item to […]

]]>You are a store owner, a really good one – one that knows exactly how to run a business, satisfy customers and make them happy enough to guarantee their return.

In one instance, one of your repeat customer Paul approaches to you to check out. You get the payment and hand out the item to Paul and say ‘Thanks for shopping from us!’.

And while you do this, you may or may not think about why you do that, since you ‘thank’ each and every customer you have in your store.

Same thing goes for the online world, but this time with a little more detail.

Thank You pages, or confirmation pages, are the second step your visitors see right after they opt-in through your landing pages.

A good marketer knows that when a subscriber is generated, it’s just the beginning of a long journey. Every time you get new subscribers, you create opportunities. Aside from being a thank you page, confirmation pages are useful to continue communicating with your subscribers.

In this post, I am going to show you how exactly you could use Thank You pages to increase engagement, and unlock the opportunities to turn those leads into customers.

After filling out all the details, proceed on creating your questions.

When it’s done, publish it and copy your survey link.

Now, you already have your offer and landing page ready. All we need to do is to open the landing page editor, head on to thank you page tab and insert our message and call-to-action button that is linked to our survey we just created.

2. Invite them to your upcoming webinar

Webinars are one of the best ways to educate and qualify a lead that may have high interest in your product or offer. Using GetResponse landing page creator, you can add a webinar invitation section to your thank you page.

If you’d like to learn more about how to use webinars to generate leads and build relationships, head over to our newest Webinar Marketing Bootcamp page and sign up for the course.

3. Use video

You may have more to tell to your subscribers once they opt-in to your list. Let them know how they should be preparing for the course they just signed up or give them more information about how to redeem the offer.

4. Offer resources

Building a long lasting relationship with your audience is deeply connected with how much you show that you care about them. Delight your subscribers with ebooks, whitepapers or guides right after they opt-in.

5. Offer discounts

“Your customer doesn’t care how much you know until they know how much they care.” These are the words of Damon Richards, an expert on customer care. Besides offering your help to make their business better, give discounts that will make them come back and purchase from you again.

Here’s an example I created using GetResponse Landing Pages:

6. Show testimonials

Why not to continue building trust even after they are converted? Show them how satisfied your other customers are. 70% of people trust the opinions of other consumers posted online (source). Use the power of reviews to ensure continuous engagement with your audience.

Back to you

Once you create your landing page, think about what other opportunities you can create after you convert.

GetResponse Landing Pages gives you capabilities to edit your thank you pages any way you want.

Are you already applying any of those ways I described above? If so, let us know what results you got in the comments below.

]]>https://blog.getresponse.com/use-thank-you-pages.html/feed0GetResponse List Building Mini Course – Get It for Freehttps://blog.getresponse.com/list-building-mini-course.html https://blog.getresponse.com/list-building-mini-course.html#respondTue, 16 May 2017 15:55:09 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29448How can I get more leads? It’s a question we’re asked all the time. So we put our heads together to create a short, hands-on course that shows you all the steps. And here it is! Our free List Building Mini Course can help you attract the right subscribers, build rock-solid relationships, and optimize your […]

]]>https://blog.getresponse.com/list-building-mini-course.html/feed0The All-New GetResponse [New Release Info Available]https://blog.getresponse.com/coming-soon-new-getresponse.html https://blog.getresponse.com/coming-soon-new-getresponse.html#commentsMon, 15 May 2017 15:24:25 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29402We love sharing our news with you. And today’s announcement is huge, because you’re about to see the all-new GetResponse! This summer, you’ll experience an entirely different version of your favorite platform – now your command center for all your online marketing. Want to take a look inside? Why the change? You’ve probably noticed we […]

]]>We love sharing our news with you. And today’s announcement is huge, because you’re about to see the all-new GetResponse!

This summer, you’ll experience an entirely different version of your favorite platform – now your command center for all your online marketing. Want to take a look inside?

Why the change?

You’ve probably noticed we really value your feedback. So we listened to all our customers’ comments and requests, and decided it was time for a change. A huge change.

You’ve seen us add features like webinars and marketing automation. But we knew we could do even more to make GetResponse your complete marketing platform. As well as more user-friendly. Or as I like to say, people-friendly.

So our brilliant UX designers, developers, product managers, content strategists, and marketers have worked hard for months to make that happen.

All-new, all-in-one

The new GetResponse isn’t just better looking. We’ve completely redefined the way we think about GetResponse and online marketing. In fact, we’ve built a brand new platform to bring you a fully integrated, all-in-one online marketing software experience.

What’s new?

Everything. The new GetResponse has six fully integrated modules, working together to streamline your marketing activities, like email creation and workflow management. At the heart of it all are now your contacts, powering all of the modules from a single source, and keeping them synced with data that’s always up to date. So you can easily track your leads and customers at every stage of their journey.

It’s clear and transparent. And no matter how many modules you use, you get a birds-eye look at your results, to take the best next step. Meet your new dashboard.

Here’s what you get at a glance:

New platform architecture with fully integrated products. So you can build clear communications with your audience – and get a complete picture of each customer.

Fully customizable interface that adapts to how you work. So you can see all the data you need to make the right decisions.

Widget-based dashboard to set up your own unique management hub.

New sleek design and layout for easier navigation – and the best possible experience.

How does that sound?

Well, that’s not all folks! We’re also rolling out the new…

Customer Relationship Management tool (beta)

In 1998, our CEO Simon Grabowski launched GetResponse as a simple autoresponder service. Then it became an email marketing platform. We later added landing pages, webinars and marketing automation.

But one big part of the online marketing puzzle was missing. Until now. We’re thrilled to show you the beta version of our new CRM system – part of the new GetResponse platform.

Ever wished you could manage your sales pipeline in one interface, instead of integrating and paying for different services? Now you can! With our CRM, you can streamline your sales and marketing with one easy-to use, scalable tool. Without spending big on extra software – or hiring more people.

UPDATE: We’ve rolled out the new GetResponse to the first lucky group

Yay! It’s finally happening – today, the first group of selected customers, including those of you that signed up for beta tests last week, will be able to make the switch to the new GetResponse. Not in this group and can’t wait to try it yourself? Don’t worry – we’ll be rolling it out to all paying customers (who use the English version) all throughout June.

We’re now entering the phase of heavy testing with the invaluable help of some of you, our customers, and will be collecting your feedback to make sure the product exceeds your expectations. If you’re among those who got early access to the new GetResponse, let us know what you think in the comments below. If you’re still waiting, let us know your expectations!

What you need to know

I know you probably have lots of questions. So I’ll answer a few for you:

We’ll be rolling out the new interface gradually over the next few months. We’ve started in June with US English accounts, and we’ll be releasing other language versions until late September 2017.

Want to see it sooner and be a beta tester? Just sign up using the form below.

You can still use the old version, while we beta test the new one. And you can switch back at any time (but I don’t think you’ll want to!)

You’ll pay the same for your account as you do now.

During the beta phase, you can keep using the CRM tool with your paid account. To keep using it after we’re out of beta, you’ll need at least a Pro account.

Multi-user access will not be available in the new interface until the beta phase ends. For now, you’ll only be able to use it with the old version of GetResponse.

You might find some features missing or incomplete in the beta version. Don’t worry – we’re working to get everything ready for the final release.

Of course, our team is always here to help. So just let us know if you have any other questions.

Not just email marketing. All your marketing.

Now you can do it all: collect and nurture leads, and close sales. With all the data at your fingertips, in one easy-to-use platform. That’s what the new GetResponse really means for you.

Soon you can see it for yourself. And I bet you’ll be as excited as we are!

So stay tuned while we keep working to bring you the new GetResponse experience. And watch this space for updates!

]]>https://blog.getresponse.com/coming-soon-new-getresponse.html/feed54Email Your Way to Marketing Success With Our New Strategic Email Marketing Coursehttps://blog.getresponse.com/strategic-email-marketing-course.html https://blog.getresponse.com/strategic-email-marketing-course.html#respondThu, 11 May 2017 14:10:00 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29366Did you know that there are 3× more email accounts than Facebook & Twitter accounts combined? Or that you’re 6× more likely to get a click-through from email than Twitter? Impressive, isn’t it? And it’s not even the whole story. If you want to tap into all that, and go beyond emails, we have something […]

]]>Did you know that there are 3× more email accounts than Facebook & Twitter accounts combined? Or that you’re 6× more likely to get a click-through from email than Twitter?

Impressive, isn’t it? And it’s not even the whole story. If you want to tap into all that, and go beyond emails, we have something just for you.

Announcing GetResponse Strategic Email Marketing course

We’re excited to announce that the Strategic Email Marketing Course is here – and it’s free. During the course, you’ll learn email marketing that’s more than just blasting. You’ll also learn how to make your emails inbound – and deliver an entire experience rather than just newsletters.

Just take a look:

What’s in it for you?

Well, in the course you’ll learn all about:

Building email lists

Creating high converting emails

Establishing good delivery rates

Automating emails for high engagement

Analyzing and optimizing your emails

Developing interconnected marketing campaigns

About the course

The course consists of 9 hands-on tutorials. Each lesson covers one subject in a comprehensive way. And each includes links to the best and most recent email marketing resources to support you along the way.

]]>https://blog.getresponse.com/strategic-email-marketing-course.html/feed0Announcing the New Mobile Workspace for Landing Pageshttps://blog.getresponse.com/new-mobile-workspace.html https://blog.getresponse.com/new-mobile-workspace.html#respondWed, 19 Apr 2017 14:13:24 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=29027More of us are living our lives online – and on the go. So it’s no surprise that 60% of all web traffic now comes from mobile devices. And by 2020, 45% of all ecommerce purchases in the US will come from mobile devices. That means nearly half your customers will buy using their mobile […]

So now’s the time to design your landing pages for desktop and mobile. And you can do it quickly and easily with our new mobile workspace tool.

What is mobile workspace?

Mobile workspace is more than just a mobile preview feature. It’s an all-in-one design tool that lets you tweak and optimize the mobile version of your landing pages.

You get more control over your landing page designs, and can enhance them for the best mobile experience.

How to get started

Once you’re happy with your landing page desktop design, simply switch to the mobile workspace. Then you can start editing your design for all screen sizes.

What you can do:

Simply toggle between the desktop and mobile view workspace.

Scale, hide, or tweak elements, so they look great on any screen.

Edit or replace background images to enhance the landing page design.

Plus, you can view all versions of your landing page in advanced preview mode. So you can check that it looks and works perfectly.

Mobile workspace exclusive webinar

Next Thursday, April 27, at 12:00 PM EDT, Abby and I will showcase the mobile workspace in an exclusive webinar for you. During this webinar, you’ll have a chance to take a deeper look at the tool and also learn:

]]>https://blog.getresponse.com/new-mobile-workspace.html/feed0Join Our Upcoming Webinar: Go PRO with GetResponsehttps://blog.getresponse.com/getresponse-pro-webinar.html https://blog.getresponse.com/getresponse-pro-webinar.html#respondThu, 06 Apr 2017 14:21:26 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=28867With email marketing, landing pages, webinars, and marketing automation under one roof, the sky is the limit for your marketing potential. But you’ll only be able to soar to the greatest heights if you know tried and true methods to link these powerful online marketing tools together. To make sure you are ready […]

]]>With email marketing, landing pages, webinars, and marketing automation under one roof, the sky is the limit for your marketing potential. But you’ll only be able to soar to the greatest heights if you know tried and true methods to link these powerful online marketing tools together.

To make sure you are ready to make the most out of your marketing potential, join us next Thursday, April 13, for our exclusive live webinar. You’ll see a case study example of how a company uses GetResponse to increase sales through the integrated marketing tools available. You’ll be a true GetResponse PRO afterward!

It’s vital to make sure that your online marketing efforts are enhanced by one another. Are you ready to learn how to use GetResponse and the online marketing solutions at your disposal to optimize your sales funnel and campaigns?

]]>https://blog.getresponse.com/getresponse-pro-webinar.html/feed06 Steps to Refreshing Your Contact List This Springhttps://blog.getresponse.com/spring-list-hygiene.html https://blog.getresponse.com/spring-list-hygiene.html#respondTue, 28 Mar 2017 13:56:45 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=28672Spring is here, so you’re probably thinking about tackling those seasonal chores – like clearing out the garden, or your closet. But what about your email contact list? Cleaning up your contact list (what we call “list hygiene”) is one of the most under appreciated areas of email marketing. And it’s probably the least popular, too. […]

]]>Spring is here, so you’re probably thinking about tackling those seasonal chores – like clearing out the garden, or your closet. But what about your email contact list? Cleaning up your contact list (what we call “list hygiene”) is one of the most under appreciated areas of email marketing. And it’s probably the least popular, too. But done well, list hygiene is tremendously valuable.

What is list hygiene – and why should you do it?

Many people still wrongly believe the bigger your list, the more valuable it is. But many studies have shown that the engagement metrics are what matter most. Quality wins over quantity. So it’s better to have a database of 10,000 subscribers who want to receive your emails, than 100,000 subscribers who don’t.

Keeping your list clean pays off – in your monthly plan and in your email metrics. So let’s dive in and start clearing the clutter!

Here are 6 simple steps to get started:

1. Ditch the dead weight.

First, consider removing subscribers who didn’t open any of your emails in a certain timeframe. Why? Because more engaged subscribers means better deliverability.

My proven best practice is to check who didn’t open any emails in the last three months. If you’re sending emails frequently, this quarterly check is good practice. If you send updates less often, say twice a month, then aim for every six months.

Stick to email best practices. Keep it short, be personal, and enchant with your subject line. Your copy should briefly tell contacts how to reconfirm their subscription, and what will happen if they don’t.

4. Set up automation.

Your copy’s ready and you’re about to click send. But how will you easily see who’s engaged and who’s not? Doing it manually takes a lot of time and effort – with a high chance of mistakes.

I always use a marketing automation workflow. This starts with a link clicked condition:

The link is usually your call to action – your lead magnet.

If your email says: “Would you like to stay updated? Click here and we’ll keep you posted”, your workflow will look like this:

This simple two-step workflow automatically removes all contacts that didn’t click to get your lead magnet. Insider tip: to make sure the automation works, schedule your re-engagement message. Then fill out the empty spaces in the workflow draft.

5. Say thanks.

Next, you need to think about how to deliver your lead magnet. What’s the most effective way to thank your audience for their engagement and attention?

You got their buy-in, so I suggest you go the extra mile and create a dedicated landing page. I use the GetResponse landing page creator to create a simple and friendly thank you message:

If you get another sign up, be proud because you just earned your subscriber’s trust!

Do it again!

Regularly cleaning up your contacts will keep your list quality high, without hindering your revenue. You can easily duplicate the workflows and landing pages to save time and get even greater results. Then, you can extend your workflows and include more messages in the reconfirmation process. Always start simple. Then once you feel comfortable, you can increase the pace.

What about bounces and complaints?

Remember I said you should also check your email bounces? A bounce happens when an email couldn’t be delivered. A hard bounce is a permanent block. This happens when you email a non-existent address, which is then immediately removed from the list. A soft bounce happens when we detect delivery issues such as a full email inbox, a mail server that’s temporarily unavailable, or an email account that’s no longer used. A complaint, or spam report, is also removed from your account.

Always keep an eye on these three indicators. If you regularly clean up your list, you can stop the ratios getting too high.

Over to you!

As you can see, list hygiene is as important as growing your list. Good engagement rates, like high email open and click rates, indicate your audience’s interest. But even these metrics won’t filter out unengaged subscribers. So you need to slice and dice your list – and do it often.

How do you re-engage your subscribers? Let us know in the comments below!

]]>https://blog.getresponse.com/spring-list-hygiene.html/feed0Webinar Recap: How to Use GetResponse Marketing Automation for Your Businesshttps://blog.getresponse.com/webinar-recap-getresponse-marketing-automation.html https://blog.getresponse.com/webinar-recap-getresponse-marketing-automation.html#respondWed, 15 Mar 2017 13:12:44 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=28477We want to thank you all so much for registering and attending our webinar all about getting started with marketing automation yesterday! We had a great group of attendees who asked some awesome questions. Together we were able to introduce marketing automation as a theory, then see it work in action! (Though some attendees had […]

]]>We want to thank you all so much for registering and attending our webinar all about getting started with marketing automation yesterday! We had a great group of attendees who asked some awesome questions. Together we were able to introduce marketing automation as a theory, then see it work in action!

(Though some attendees had trouble focusing, as it was lunch time for them and all the examples were of a chocolate shop! ☺️)

But once we got past that, it was smooth sailing and we got into the “good stuff” that GetResponse Marketing Automation has to offer – scoring, tagging, easy drag and drop workflow builder, and more.

What did we learn?

So, for those of you who joined me yesterday, what should you have taken away from the webinar?

An understanding of marketing automation and how it can improve your results.

Remember, marketing automation is used to automate essential marketing processes.

Wrapping up

Thanks again for joining us yesterday! We hope you rushed straight over to your account and created some awesome workflows. If so, let us know in the comment what types you created! We’d love to hear from you.

]]>https://blog.getresponse.com/webinar-recap-getresponse-marketing-automation.html/feed0New Webinar: Using GetResponse Marketing Automation for Your Businesshttps://blog.getresponse.com/using-getresponse-marketing-automation-business.html https://blog.getresponse.com/using-getresponse-marketing-automation-business.html#respondTue, 07 Mar 2017 13:58:27 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=28287Marketing automation seems to be the buzz term making its way into almost every marketer’s ear these days – for good reason. Marketing automation is the answer to the siren song calling us all to automate-automate-automate. However, wanting to automate, but without ever really understanding how we should automate our marketing processes, or perhaps even […]

]]>Marketing automation seems to be the buzz term making its way into almost every marketer’s ear these days – for good reason. Marketing automation is the answer to the siren song calling us all to automate-automate-automate.

However, wanting to automate, but without ever really understanding how we should automate our marketing processes, or perhaps even why, it’s hard to jump on the marketing automation bandwagon. Sure, it sounds cool, but how do I use it?

Well, I’m happy you asked! Join me for a free webinar on Tuesday, March 14 where we will dive straight into the how’s and the why’s of marketing automation. You’ll leave knowing why you should use marketing automation and how it will help you optimize your online marketing.

What will you gain from the webinar?

An understanding of marketing automation and how it can improve your results.

]]>https://blog.getresponse.com/using-getresponse-marketing-automation-business.html/feed0Webinar Retrospective: Answering Some of the Unanswered Questionshttps://blog.getresponse.com/webinar-retrospective-answering-some-unanswered-questions.html https://blog.getresponse.com/webinar-retrospective-answering-some-unanswered-questions.html#respondThu, 02 Mar 2017 15:18:27 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=28243First of all, we’d like to say thank you to all of you who attended yesterday’s “Put Landing Pages to work” webinar. We had a wonderful session where we discovered Landing Pages together and answered some of your questions. Some, because there was not enough time to go through each and every question. So, we […]

]]>First of all, we’d like to say thank you to all of you who attended yesterday’s “Put Landing Pages to work” webinar. We had a wonderful session where we discovered Landing Pages together and answered some of your questions. Some, because there was not enough time to go through each and every question.

So, we created this blog post to answer the questions that were left unanswered.

Will this webinar be available for a replay?

Definitely! As a matter of fact, you already received an email including the recording of this webinar. However, if you’re reading this blog post first time and wondering if there will be more landing page webinars, worry no more. Click this link to register for the upcoming one.

How can I link landing pages to my domain name?

Can I import templates to the landing page editor?

There is no direct option to do this. However, you can paste your own HTML code inside the landing page HTML editor. Mind you, we do not assist with custom coding here.

Another solution could be to use “start from scratch” templates and edit the HTML code within the editor.

I currently use a competitor and publish landing pages through WordPress to have the URL in my custom domain. Is GetResponse able to do that?

With GetResponse, you can publish your landing pages directly from the platform. Before hitting the publish button, you can direct your landing pages to your own domain.

Is each A/B testing variant considered a different landing page?

Not really. When A/B testing variants, GetResponse creates an identical copy of your main (control) page. Once you have your variant page, you can change elements, tweak copy, or change button colors to see which version performs better. In a way, both pages are different design-wise, but they can’t be completely different pages.

Is there a limit to the number of variants I can have?

If you’re a free trial user or an Email package user, you can’t run A/B tests, so no chance to have any variants.

How do you align the fill-in forms with the button so when the page size changes the button stays centered in the box?

]]>https://blog.getresponse.com/webinar-retrospective-answering-some-unanswered-questions.html/feed0Join Us for Our Upcoming Webinar: Getting Started with Landing Pageshttps://blog.getresponse.com/landing-pages-webinar.html https://blog.getresponse.com/landing-pages-webinar.html#respondWed, 22 Feb 2017 13:33:05 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=28134Email list-building lies at the center of many online businesses nowadays. If you consider your sales process as a funnel, interaction with a lead starts right after acquiring it. GetResponse users know this too. That’s why they value landing pages as one of their most important tools for acquiring leads. In fact, on a worldwide […]

]]>https://blog.getresponse.com/landing-pages-webinar.html/feed0Writing Email Subject Lines That Get Prospects to Open, Read, and Respondhttps://blog.getresponse.com/writing-email-subject-lines.html https://blog.getresponse.com/writing-email-subject-lines.html#commentsTue, 14 Feb 2017 13:43:36 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=27955Email subject lines are important. Why? Because people do judge newsletters by their subjects. And here’s the bombshell: 30% of email recipients decide whether to open an email solely based on its subject line (Convince & Convert). And 69% of email recipients report email as spam based solely on the subject line (Convince & Convert). […]

]]>Email subject lines are important. Why? Because people do judge newsletters by their subjects. And here’s the bombshell: 30% of email recipients decide whether to open an email solely based on its subject line (Convince & Convert). And 69% of email recipients report email as spam based solely on the subject line (Convince & Convert). But this is not yet another post about writing email subjects. Instead, I’ll focus on compelling, hands-on tips that will help you reach the point where your subscribers can’t help but open your newsletters.

1. Keep it short.

To quote Mark Twain, “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” Brevity is the key. A subject line should contain the most important information about your offer in just 25-50 words! Taking Mark Twain’s word for it, brevity in writing is a challenge. So the key here is to be descriptive but to the point.

2. Avoid slogans and don’t come on too strong.

“Sizzling summer promo” or “The ultimate bargain season starts now” are to the point and short enough. So what could possibly be wrong? They don’t have the element of surprise. So your subscriber has less incentive to open. And they are rather common, so you lose your brand’s scent. And in return — trust and recognizability of your subscribers. On the other hand, watch out for a subject like: “Hey, I’d like to sell you something” — I can guarantee it will land in the spam folder. The same will happen if you use ALL CAPS. So key takeaways are: don’t overuse words that may trigger spam, stay focused, and be original. It will not only boost your open rate but also increase deliverability.

3. Make them feel special, but be careful about emojis.

The psychology of exclusivity is a powerful thing. By offering an exclusive benefit or giveaway, people get the sense of belonging. Belonging helps build loyalty, and that helps conversion. The right phrasing can embed the sense of exclusivity and show your subscribers that they are special to you. Using a custom field can help you achieve this effect. A targeted message can achieve a 54% response rate, according to Localytics. An emoji can help you enhance this effect, but be careful – a smiley, thumbs up, or heart don’t belong in some industry branches. Besides, think about your buyer persona – what would he or she think of the emoticon you’ve got in mind?

4. Create a sense of urgency.

Subject lines that embed the sense of urgency and exclusivity can deliver an open rate 22% higher than regular notification emails. Pretty impressive. But how to apply it in casual email marketing practice? Think of using a deadline and action verbs in your subject lines. Your subject line can make a perfect call to action if you use language that inspires people to click. An action verb can help people envision themselves acting on your offer.

5. Don’t forget the preheader or help text.

This is where you get to bring out more details regarding your offer. While a preheader isn’t technically part of your subject line, it does appear next to it — and it certainly deserves your attention. It provides recipients with a peek at the content inside your email, which email clients like the iPhone Mail app, Gmail, and Outlook will display alongside the subject line. In this post, we wrote about why a preheader is usually neglected. But it is important in the inbox. Point:

A preheader is like a subtitle – it guides, explains, helps the reader understand, and encourages. When you don’t set it up yourself, the email client automatically pulls text from the body of your email. This can look messy depending on your email content, and it’s also a wasted opportunity to engage your audience. Again, keep it brief: 100-150 characters is optimum.

6. The From field is your online identification.

Yes, we can’t talk enough about the from fields. And deliverability. A from field helps you legitimize the contact with your audience. And legitimization is a real challenge, as nearly one-third of marketers reported blacklisting and spam reports as their biggest challenge. As mentioned before, 30% of recipients decide whether to open a newsletter based on the preview. And your from field is an integral part of it. So a few takeaways for the long-term perspective are: be recognizable, appear trustworthy, and use a from field. Although these may not bring immediate results, they strengthen trust and relationships over time.

7. Don’t forget A/B testing.

Although these tips are a great place to start, what works for some companies may not work as well for others. It’s all about figuring out what works best for your specific audience. That’s where A/B testing comes in. While it can be tempting to use your intuition to predict what subject line language will make people click on your emails, you should be A/B testing your subject lines constantly and tweaking wording according to your results. What works best for your audience: long or short subject lines? Including numbers or not including numbers? Questions or statements? Or is it the from field that causes low open rates? With this in mind, GetResponse allows you to conduct effective split tests, even when you’re a free trial user. Bear that in mind when making changes to your email subjects or from fields.

Wrapping up

Now you know where to start when pondering the best subject line for your upcoming newsletter. Keep in mind that 69% of email recipients report email as spam based solely on the subject line (Convince & Convert). I hope this post will be your guideline or best-practice checklist. While we’re at it, share your thoughts – we’d like to know what worked for you? And how did it help you engage your audience?

]]>https://blog.getresponse.com/writing-email-subject-lines.html/feed2GetResponse Action-Based Autoresponders Evolve into Marketing Automationhttps://blog.getresponse.com/autoresponders-evolve-marketing-automation.html https://blog.getresponse.com/autoresponders-evolve-marketing-automation.html#respondFri, 10 Feb 2017 13:24:12 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=27713Marketing automation doesn’t have to be as elusive as it sounds. In fact, you’ve likely been using some form of marketing automation for years! Particularly if you’ve used the action-based autoresponder message functionality in your GetResponse account. Reacting to subscriber behavior and data has long been possible with GetResponse, but thanks to marketing automation, it […]

]]>Marketing automation doesn’t have to be as elusive as it sounds. In fact, you’ve likely been using some form of marketing automation for years! Particularly if you’ve used the action-based autoresponder message functionality in your GetResponse account. Reacting to subscriber behavior and data has long been possible with GetResponse, but thanks to marketing automation, it is now more robust than ever.

Moving into the future

GetResponse is moving away from action-based autoresponders and full steam into the new and powerful marketing automation feature available in all GetResponse accounts (specific availability details available here).

With the action-based autoresponder feature, you were able to respond to:

Message opens

Message clicks

Subscriptions

Reached goals

Subscriber data updates

Other autoresponders being sent

Birthdays

All of these functionalities (and so much more!) are now 100% possible through GetResponse Marketing Automation.

Introducing Special Event

On top of that, this update brings with it a totally new marketing automation condition element – Special Event. You can now properly react to important dates in your subscriber database: birthdays, subscription anniversaries, purchase dates, and more.

For those users of GetResponse who had action-based autoresponders created, starting February 21, we are automatically converting those message setups into identical, high-functioning marketing automation workflows.

Why the switch?

We’re glad you asked! Marketing automation is more powerful, more flexible, and much-more visual than action-based autoresponders. On top of that, those users who were using action-based autoresponders will now have access to so many more functionalities that will help foster effective, intuitive communication with their subscribers.

As a marketing functionality, marketing automation will only continue growing in significance into 2017, so we are pleased to help usher our users into the future of highly effective, automated marketing strategies.

Learn more

We’ve created a wealth of materials to help explain the update and are even hosting an exclusive webinar to show just how action-based autoresponders can now function as marketing automation workflows.

]]>https://blog.getresponse.com/autoresponders-evolve-marketing-automation.html/feed0Video Guides to Jumpstart Your Marketing Automation Journeyhttps://blog.getresponse.com/marketing-automation-journey.html https://blog.getresponse.com/marketing-automation-journey.html#respondTue, 31 Jan 2017 14:07:59 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=27605Not sure how you should start using marketing automation? Start simple! Marketing automation doesn’t have to be a large-scale endeavor. It’s all about sending highly-targeted messages to your subscribers, based on their data or behavior. And GetResponse Marketing Automation is all about making such technology available to everyone – not just those with huge marketing […]

]]>Not sure how you should start using marketing automation? Start simple! Marketing automation doesn’t have to be a large-scale endeavor. It’s all about sending highly-targeted messages to your subscribers, based on their data or behavior. And GetResponse Marketing Automation is all about making such technology available to everyone – not just those with huge marketing budgets.

Convert and welcome customers with an automated welcome series.

Based on our sample online candy retailer, The Chocolate Monster, here you can see how the shop welcomes new subscribers who join their list from their homepage sign-up form. When someone signs up, the workflow is automatically trigged, and the shop begins engaging (and converting!) their new subscribers.

Retarget your leads with exclusive content.

Every subscriber list will eventually contain some “lethargic” leads that have stopped engaging with your content. Here, The Chocolate Monster shop works to entice those leads back to their side with an exclusive download, through a simple marketing automation workflow.

Thank customers for their purchase and encourage repeat sales.

Of course you want to confirm a customer’s purchase, so why not automate it? Through a simple two-step workflow, The Chocolate Monster shop confirms a completed purchase, and works to upsell with additional products at the same time.

Hold on tightly! Don’t let abandoned carts slip away.

There are plenty of disheartening statistics and reports out there about the online cart abandonment rates and how much revenue this costs online business, but through marketing automation you can do your part to win back those cart abandoners. The Chocolate Monster shop has a simple two-step workflow to automatically remind and entice those potential customers to return and complete their purchase.

Reward top-engagers with exclusive offers.

You don’t want to only focus on those subscribers who aren’t engaging with your messages or completing their purchases. Don’t forget to thank your loyal subscribers from time to time for engaging with your content. A simple marketing automation workflow puts this “thank you” workflow on autopilot, and ensures your subscribers know you haven’t forgotten about them. In this video, The Chocolate Monster shop uses a subscriber scoring strategy to pinpoint their loyal subscribers and offer them exclusive deals.

What are you waiting for?

If you already have a GetResponse account, head to your automation tab and get to work!

]]>https://blog.getresponse.com/marketing-automation-journey.html/feed0Create High-Converting Landing Pages with Our Essential Landing Page Coursehttps://blog.getresponse.com/landing-page-course.html https://blog.getresponse.com/landing-page-course.html#respondThu, 05 Jan 2017 14:40:01 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=27209What is your wish for the new year? Well, I may not know exactly, but I’m guessing it could be building a good-quality email list that you can sell to. One of the most effective ways of building email lists is to use landing pages. We know how important it is for you to master […]

What will you get out of this course?

Our aim is to teach you the best practices for building, publishing, and optimizing landing pages for high conversion. Besides that, you’ll learn how to:

Create lead magnets that get attention

Implement best practices for landing page optimization

Generate traffic to keep the momentum high

Build long-term relationships with your audience after conversion

Each lesson provides an in-depth look into landing pages as part of your online marketing strategy. And each includes links to the best and most recent landing page resources to support you in your journey toward becoming a landing page expert.

]]>https://blog.getresponse.com/landing-page-course.html/feed0How to Use Dynamic Content Effectively: 3 Simple Stepshttps://blog.getresponse.com/use-dynamic-content-effectively.html https://blog.getresponse.com/use-dynamic-content-effectively.html#respondTue, 27 Dec 2016 14:39:35 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=26975The job of a contemporary marketer is not an easy one. And that’s due to the fact of the ever changing understanding of the whats and hows in contemporary marketing. We‘ve all faced the traditional marketing mix going to the pit. And that pit is as much as there is left of the 4 Ps. […]

]]>The job of a contemporary marketer is not an easy one. And that’s due to the fact of the ever changing understanding of the whats and hows in contemporary marketing. We‘ve all faced the traditional marketing mix going to the pit. And that pit is as much as there is left of the 4 Ps.

Looking towards 2017, custom content is the trend to follow. Why? Take a look around. Amazon, Netflix, Groupon, Zalando, Booking.com. What do they have in common? For starters, the understanding that no two customers are the same. And the customer journey is not a straight line. How do they do it? They use dynamic content. In fact, over 50% of marketers see dynamic or custom content as their priority (Altimeter). And according to DragonSearch, relevant and personalized content drives 18 times more sales than broadcast content!

Now that we know that customized content is here to stay, let’s get our hands dirty and apply it to email marketing. Here’s how to use dynamic content effectively.

Set-up

In a nutshell, custom content is the magic link between your offer and conversions. And here’s what you need to get started:

A database. In order to customize your messages, you need to start collecting information about your prospects. And that goes beyond name and email. You also need a tool to organize this information and find it whenever you need it.

Customer profile – who is your buyer persona and how do they interact with your brand?

Database management and buyer personas

For this purpose, let’s follow the lead of the Chocolate Monster – a local eCommerce candy store. The Chocolate Monster defined three basic customer groups in their database. Are you wondering how to map your buyer personas? You can create a purchasing roadmap with GetResponse due to its versatility in segmentation and campaign management. For instance, the Chocolate Monster has a fair insight into the activities of their customers, their geolocation, and interactions with the brand. And you can get there, too.

Our sample store uses custom fields to get to know their customer’s taste better. Custom fields contain values that are tied to buyer’s preferences and help the store owners determine what to feature in their communication. To narrow down this segmentation, they decided to apply tags to buyers who open their newsletters on a regular basis and view the presented menu updates. Thanks to the geolocation filter, the Chocolate Monster also tailors the offer to local tastes. These techniques make up the first set of rules towards making the content of their newsletters truly dynamic and personal.

Easily editable newsletters

The owners of Chocolate Monster found out that personalized emails improve open rates by at least 15% (Aberdeen Group). And since they started personalizing their subject lines with custom fields, they managed to hit the sweet spot! Referring to their customer by their name was another good example of how the candy store showed interest in each individual. With the help of the drag-and-drop email editor it was easy to customize the images, call-to-action buttons, text, and prices. And it didn’t require any coding. Sounds like what you need? Keep reading, because there’s more!

Automating the buyer’s journey

This is what I like to call “smarter marketing” – for a good flow of communication, you need to use dynamic content effectively, with a strategic purpose. So what is your marketing goal? Is it conversion? Or retention? Or brand recognition? Think about it when you start mapping your first workflow. If I am your customer – don’t pitch me, or convert me with content when I’m not ready to buy yet.

This can be a really difficult step to take. But once you’ve collected enough data through tags and custom fields, you can start scoring your leads. That’s exactly what they did at Chocolate Monster. The triggers were either an abandoned cart, a website visit, or opening a newsletter. What seems a simple set of features, has grown to the size of a dynamic, personalized communication plan.

Key takeaways

The goal of smart content is to provide a more relevant experience than could otherwise be achieved through static content. Remember not to over-personalize. Your newsletters need to remain authentic, so don’t force the use of personalization tokens.

Go ahead and explore what GetResponse can do for you. Follow the lead of the Chocolate Monster and:

assign custom fields, scores and tags through an automation workflow;

create personal emails in the drag-and drop-editor;

maintain your email list.

Since we’ve just added more smart content options, we’d love some ideas from you. How would you like to use smart content in your campaigns?

And if you want to get more technical using dynamic content in your emails, check out this whole FAQ section about it!

]]>https://blog.getresponse.com/use-dynamic-content-effectively.html/feed0Your GetResponse Webinars – Now Mobile!https://blog.getresponse.com/getresponse-webinars-mobile-app.html https://blog.getresponse.com/getresponse-webinars-mobile-app.html#commentsTue, 13 Dec 2016 15:26:24 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=26738More and more, people are stepping away from their desks and removing the chains a desktop computer or even a laptop once kept tightly wound around them. Reaching an audience, no matter the device or method they prefer, is key to gaining and keeping their attention. This is now more true than ever for your […]

]]>More and more, people are stepping away from their desks and removing the chains a desktop computer or even a laptop once kept tightly wound around them. Reaching an audience, no matter the device or method they prefer, is key to gaining and keeping their attention.

This is now more true than ever for your webinars. Your attendees (and probably, you yourself) are eager to join in from the train, airport, a long line at the pharmacy, and perhaps a few, even still from their desks. So today, we are happy to announce, that you can now offer this convenience to your attendees for your GetResponse Webinars: the GetResponse Webinar mobile app.

The app is available for iOS and Android devices (smartphones and tablets), and is free for download from Google Play and the Apple App Store.

With the GetResponse Webinars App, you can:

Synchronize your events with your calendar

Add contacts to your invitees’ list

Invite presenters and participants to your webinars, also via Twitter

Meet with up to 25 and present to up to 1000 people

Stream up to 4 live audio and video feeds

Control interaction with audio modes

Present documents, videos, reports and presentations

Share interactive whiteboard to impress your audience

Enable text chat during your online event

Record and store your events

Lock/unlock access to your webinar room

View statistics

Not using webinars just yet? Take a look here and see why you could be missing out! And if you are starting to use our webinars, but aren’t quite sure how to market them, please take a look at our webinar marketing bootcamp email course. This self-paced course can help you get started with marketing your webinars properly.

Do you already host webinars? Have you ever joined in from a mobile device? Let us know in the comments below!

]]>https://blog.getresponse.com/getresponse-webinars-mobile-app.html/feed7Use Marketing Automation To Retarget Your Leads For The Holiday Seasonhttps://blog.getresponse.com/use-marketing-automation-retarget-leads-holiday-season.html https://blog.getresponse.com/use-marketing-automation-retarget-leads-holiday-season.html#respondTue, 22 Nov 2016 14:18:53 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=26592No doubt you’ve already encountered several articles focused on getting ready for the upcoming holiday sales season. While we know there’s plenty of information and tips out there to make the most of this sales season, in this post we want to encourage you to think about how you could automate just a part of […]

]]>No doubt you’ve already encountered several articles focused on getting ready for the upcoming holiday sales season. While we know there’s plenty of information and tips out there to make the most of this sales season, in this post we want to encourage you to think about how you could automate just a part of that marketing and targeting process.

In case you haven’t yet been sold on the real-life uses for marketing automation, a recent GetResponse post by Dave Chaffey, 10 Opportunities To Use Marketing Automation Across The Customer Lifecycle, is an excellent resource. For example, he details how to use marketing automation for automated prompts with content to encourage engagement, a welcome sequence, abandoned cart engagement, lead scoring, re-activation, and more.

Now, let’s break down how to use a marketing automation workflow to accomplish lead engagement and retargeting with a custom holiday resource.

We’re assuming the role of an e-commerce sweets shop, The Chocolate Monster. Through our automated communication plan we’re working to retarget new subscribers and older customers in our database. We’ll work to retarget them into buyers for our holiday sales season with a custom resource – a gift guide. Make sure you check out the video at the end of this post to see how to specifically set up the workflow.

Building the workflow

The workflow begins with the assumption that we’ll be sending an email to our list of new subscribers and previous customers who haven’t recently engaged with our marketing or products. We’ll announce the eBook download in this email to encourage the download. Here’s an example email you could use as inspiration:

The “Download now” CTA links to a custom landing page we’ve created for the eBook download, so next in our workflow we’ve added a link-clicked condition to track those that are clicking the link and reaching the landing page. For those that do, we’re then tracking if they’ve visited the “thank you” page reached after successfully downloading the gift guide.

Once we know they’ve downloaded the guide, we’ll tag them as a lead, wait one day, and then send another message to gauge engagement with the guide and offer access to discounted products, based on their interest in the guide.

If they click on the link to those products, we’ll then immediately send a special discount code. If that message is opened, we’ll tag them as a qualified lead and move them to our sales campaign so a sales representative will be notified and can reach out and help ensure their order is fulfilled.

For the “negative” path – those that never clicked the link in the initial guide message – we’ll wait one day, and send a reminder to those non-clickers. Hopefully that message will gain some more clicks, and we’ll move those clickers into the flow at the lead-tagging stage, just as we did with the initial clickers. Those that do not click the reminder link, we’ll tag as not engaged and move them to a retargeting campaign.

Similarly, those that don’t end up engaging with the discounted products mailing, we’ll tag as not engaged and move into the retargeting campaign.

What does this achieve?

A custom content resource is a compelling reason to reach out to your subscribers during the holiday season, without simply pushing a “buy-buy-buy!” mantra. It’s a subtler way to let your subscribers know you are thinking of them, and want to make the holidays easier. Keeping in mind that everyone is being inundated with sales offers and promos during this time of year, your initial contact with them should be you offering them something, before encouraging them to buy.

This workflow works under that principle and rewards those who positively engage with your resource and show interest with discounts they can use to solve their “holiday gift list” problem. For those who don’t positively interact, you only gently remind them of your offer to help, and then quietly tag and move them into a campaign you’ve set up specifically for leads that you need to later work to re-engage as customers, after the holiday season.

We’re just at the cusp of the holiday season – if you haven’t yet created a custom resource or planned out any materials, it’s not too late! If you start today, you could be ready by Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or any other holiday sales you’re looking to promote.

]]>https://blog.getresponse.com/use-marketing-automation-retarget-leads-holiday-season.html/feed0Use Subdomains And Directories To Create Targeted Landing Pageshttps://blog.getresponse.com/use-subdomains-directories-create-targeted-landing-pages.html https://blog.getresponse.com/use-subdomains-directories-create-targeted-landing-pages.html#respondTue, 08 Nov 2016 13:28:57 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=26392We know how important it is to be consistent throughout your online marketing campaigns. Whether it’s social media, email or landing pages, each medium you use it needs to be aligned with your brand image. To help you with that, we recently added a small but very important feature to GetResponse Landing Pages so that […]

]]>We know how important it is to be consistent throughout your online marketing campaigns. Whether it’s social media, email or landing pages, each medium you use it needs to be aligned with your brand image.

To help you with that, we recently added a small but very important feature to GetResponse Landing Pages so that you can host multiple landing pages on a single domain. You can now use domains, subdomains, and directories to run targeted campaigns or organize your products according to your business goals.

How does it work?

Inside the platform, you can assign your domains and subdomains in the landing page URL settings section of the landing page settings page. From there, you can add new domains and subdomains or choose from a list.

When to use directories?

Directories are pages shown as /language1.html. Let’s say you’re targeting your business in two languages and you want a dedicated landing page for each language. Here’s what to do:

– Assign your domain to your landing page.– Create a directory for each language that you want to target.In this case, your URL should look like this:

– yourcompany.com/language1.html– yourcompany.com/language2.html

How about subdomains?

Subdomains are formatted as “example.yourcompany.com”… Let’s say, you have a domain called “yourcompany.com” and twice year you run a seasonal sales to feature your most popular products. You can:

– Create two subdomains named “winter” and “summer.”– Host multiple landing pages for your seasonal products at each subdomain.

We believe that this feature will help you organize your online campaigns systematically and align your domain names to your brand, in order to strengthen your online presence. If you’d like to learn more about this feature please head over to our FAQ section.

Over to you

Have you ever used multiple landing pages and targeting different segments as part of your online marketing strategy? Please share your thoughts and experience with us by using the comment section below. I’d love to know what you think.

]]>https://blog.getresponse.com/use-subdomains-directories-create-targeted-landing-pages.html/feed0Gain Leads And Become An Industry Expert – Join our Webinar Marketing Bootcamp today!https://blog.getresponse.com/join-webinar-marketing-bootcamp.html https://blog.getresponse.com/join-webinar-marketing-bootcamp.html#respondTue, 25 Oct 2016 13:53:56 +0000https://blog.getresponse.com/?p=26222A couple of weeks ago we gave a sneak peek into the e-course all about becoming a webinar pro. We’re happy to announce that the course is available and accepting new recruits! Webinars are one of the most effective types of premium content for lead generation and nurturing out there – it’s high time to […]

Webinars are one of the most effective types of premium content for lead generation and nurturing out there – it’s high time to start making the most of a tool right under your nose.

The eight-part course delivers:

An introduction to webinar marketing

Details for strategic webinar set up

Tips to ensure the proper promotion of your webinar

Necessary hosting details

Information on how to further strengthen relationships through autoresponders

Tips on optimization and testing

Insights on using webinars as part of your overall online marketing strategy

A rich resource guide

The course is designed to give you an in-depth look into each aspect of webinar marketing, with videos available for easy-to-digest quick tips. Each lesson will link out to helpful articles and material, however the bulk of the key tips and details will be present in the email lessons themselves – exclusively for course subscribers.

Sign up today and receive the first lesson in your inbox immediately! You’ll then receive a new lesson every two days.

Have you conducted a webinar before? Do you think they would be helpful for your business? Let us know in the comments!

Get a sneak peek into GetResponse Webinar Bootcamp through these teaser videos and keep your eyes peeled for the launch!

Nurture and generate leads with skillful webinar promotion

Engagement = success! How to host the perfect webinar

Turning new relationships into lasting partnerships

Optimizing your webinars for the future & post-webinar strategies

Last but not least

Keep an eye out here on our blog for more information about GetResponse Webinar Bootcamp! As usual, please do share your thoughts and opinions in the comment section below. We’d love to learn more about how best we can serve you.